Helen Somers from Castlebridge was mystified when she reviewed the photographs she took in Courtown recently, and saw what looked like a large black animal in the distance.

'I was standing over on the pier, and I was taking a picture of the damage to the sand banks,' said Helen (34). 'I only saw it when I got home and put the photograph up on the computer. It looks like a big animal.'

'It's too big to be a dog, when you look at the size of it compared to the lifeguard hut,' she said. 'The fact that it's so black is strange.'

She shared the photograph on several social media sites, and people have come back suggesting everything from a wild boar to a jaguar or a yeti. The photograph was taken on a Nikon camera, but is slightly blurry as she didn't even notice the object to focus in on it.

'I would love to know what it was,' she said. 'I didn't see any people in the area in the photographs taken before or afterwards.'

The photograph was taken at 5.05 p.m. on February 23 on a cold, windy day.